December 26, 2009

Counterfeit Goods are Stealing Christmas

What did you get for Christmas? A fake Coach handbag
or a Rolex watch with 2 x’s? How about a few DVD’s in plain brown wrappers? If
you got anything that is not authentically what it claims to be, your shiny new
prize is part of a multi-billion dollar global crime ring. And you, my friend,
are an accomplice.

I’ve been bothered by this for years. As a person who has
worked in advertising all my life, I understand the value of a brand. It is my
job to help our clients build and zealously protect their brands. Consequently,
I cringe when I see an obvious fake. But that doesn’t stop some people from
thinking a fake Louis Vuitton
carries all of the prestige of the real thing.

Everyday my inbox is bombarded with offers of “name brand
watches” at huge discounts, right along with the offers for generic Viagra and
pleas from dethroned African leaders offering to pay me handsomely if I let
then stash some cash in my checking account. These offers are easy to blow off.
I’m smart enough to spot an obvious fraud, although some people must be
gullible or they wouldn’t keep making these outrageous claims.

But some of these offers hit closer to home. There is a
local carwash selling handbags that are obvious fakes. So obvious in fact, that
a sign on the wall claims they are not fakes but faithful “reproductions.” Call
it what you want, it’s a rip off. And copying someone’s design is still stealing.
If you buy the fakes, you might as well be buying stolen car stereos out of a
dark alley.

But here’s the kicker; a local retailer ran a full page
newspaper ad just before Christmas. One of the products offered was a clock for
25% off the regular $29.99 price. It looked like the George
Nelson designed Ball clock we have in our bedroom. Ours is the official licensed
reproduction from Vitra. We paid about $300 and of that price, each one of the
appropriate copyright holders got their share. So who would know if I buy a
bunch of these cheapos and sell them on EBay as the real thing? I would, and I
wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.

According to the USA
Today (December 18, 2009) a November ’09 FBI bust of a crime ring alleged
to be conspiring “to acquire a missile system designed to shoot down an
aircraft”. To fund their activities they were selling, among other things,
counterfeit Nike sneakers. Are the fake clocks at the corner store or the
“reproduction” purses supporting terrorism? I don’t know. But I’ll error of the
safe side and avoid them like the plague.

In 2009, a coalition of a Swiss watch makers unveiled a global
“Fake Watches Are for Fake People” campaign, but I question whether their
efforts go far enough. I admit to a minor addiction to watches, but if I
couldn’t afford an Omega, Cartier or Panerai, a $40 Swatch would be just fine. But
a fake? Not on my wrist.

Ask yourself this; would you eat McDonald’s French fries
that some guy was selling out of the back of his car? Does a BMW badge on a Kia
make it a BMW? Does a fake Rolex make you look cool?

Who the?

We are ADwërks.

We are advertising, media and marketing communications professionals. We are not a large advertising agency. We don’t want to be. We would much rather create handcrafted advertising and marketing communications strategies for a few very special clients than crank out a whole bunch of mediocre work for every advertiser with a pulse and checkbook.